"All Filipinos agree that the menace of illegal drugs is real and destructive. We must face and act upon it together, as one people. Unfortunately, it has divided us. Given the complexity of the issues, no single individual, group or institution could claim to have the only right response. We need one other. We cannot disregard each other."

"We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces with masks (referring to attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen, who human rights groups allege are policemen in disguise or civilians acting for them), to stop wasting human lives."

21. People in church

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Dozens of people attended a funeral procession Sunday at a Manila cemetery for Leover Miranda, a 39-year old man shot dead by police earlier this month as part of President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on illegal drugs in the Philippines.

Mourners wore white shirts with slogans reading "Kill drugs, not people" as a sign of protest against the government crackdown, as the family of Miranda buried their loved one.

Defending her son against the authorities' allegations, Elvirra Miranda, mother of Leover Miranda, said she hoped "innocent people would be spared from these things".

Last week, more than 80 drug and crime suspects were gunned down by police in metropolitan Manila and nearby Bulacan province in just three days, the bloodiest few days since Duterte's crackdown started in July last year.

Anger and protests have focused on the shooting death of a teenager, Kian Lloyd delos Santos, who police say was a drug dealer who opened fire with a pistol during a raid, prompting law enforcers to shoot him.

The family of the slain 17-year-old student, however, says he was mercilessly shot by police as he was pleading for his life.

Police said the student attempted to escape during a raid that sparked a chase Wednesday night in suburban Caloocan city in Manila metropolis.

The student's grieving parents and some neighbours denied the police claim, pointing to security camera footage that showed a man, who they said was delos Santos, being held by both arms and dragged away from his home shortly before he was shot nearby.

Amid the outcry, police officials removed three police officers involved in the killing of delos Santos, along with their commander, and ordered an investigation.

In a statement read out in Manila churches Sunday, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle offered to host a dialogue on the drug problem among government and police officials, along with families of victims, non government groups and medical experts.